update on methylation and Farr's treatment !!!

Rather than go on and on about everything I've been doing lately, a picture is worth a thousand so check out my pic from today.

The methylation supplements have done an incredible job these past three weeks. I feel ninety percent cured, it's just amazing. All the major symptoms are gone. No more crashes, no more post exertional malaise, no more bad feelings, no more exhaustion, no more anything. I am exercising very slowly like a person who has been in bed a long time. I can't do heavy exercise and get my heart rate up too much yet because I am so deconditioned so I am doing yoga, qi gong and some other exercises related to these as well as exercises to help the muscles in my back. I am also doing some ankle exercises (thanks to xchocoholic) especially because I put on my rollerblades a couple of days ago and my ankle muscles gave out in 2 minutes - the ankle muscles gave out, I didn't; I could have rollerbladed down the street if I wanted. I have also purchased a new wardrobe and have been fixing myself up every day without fail. I feel like I've been let out of prison and have a new beginning on life. I don't have to look at my day and worry if I'll have enough energy for what I need to do. And this pic I just took? I also happen to have a cold. It came on me Monday, hit me hardest on Tuesday, and it's going away but I remember when a cold used to floor me. I'm way too strong for it to get the best of me now.

It has taken me a year of Farr's treatment with intense focus on diet and supplements, with all recommendations based on laboratory tests. We had some adjustments to do and some of it was difficult and uncomfortable, but it all worked out in the end because I really put 100% into it. I studied all the things I was doing and was able to help tweak the plan when needed. I pretty much knew what had to be done (see beatcfsandfms.org) and I chose Farr because he knew how to do it and I didn't.

It's obvious to me now that the methylation cycle is responsible for a lot of our problems. Now that I'm really kicking mine back into gear, I can see what it's malfunction had done to me. I always knew Rich Van K was right about methylation, but it's neat to see it actually manifest in my own body. In another month or so, I will be chelating out the heavy metals and then I expect to be 100% cured. So it was a long battle, but I had nothing else to do, literally! First, intestinal hyperpermeability and dysbiosis was dealt with (took the longest), then the hormones and liver methylation cycle, and next comes heavy metal chelation. There are still some hormone issues to sort out but nothing serious.

The moral of this story is don't believe someone who says these diseases can't be cured - only people who haven't done their homework will say that. It just takes an awful lot of studying and self observation AND major lifestyle changes, esp diet. And you may need a ton of supplements. This low carb diet I'm on is now my permanent diet. It's keeping me thin and feeling great and I see no reason to change. Sure, I remember how much I enjoyed Breyer's ice cream and some Entenman's pound cake, but I'll never allow that crap to enter my body again. I have developed willpower of steel where food is concerned and it's a major part of my success and happy attitude. Just FYI, the two worst foods you can eat are doughnuts and french fries.

Another post comes to mind about food. Why not eat crappy food if it's your only comfort? Because you need to get started getting well and that's the start. Eating crap means you've given up. Like I said, it took over a year of serious effort where food is concerned so don't waste any time. You have no idea if you will be a relatively easy case or a difficult case. It's very difficult to sort out and doctors like Farr are hard to find. He has lots of experience and is very attentive and thorough. This man gave me my life back. It's been an expensive ride, but it was worth every penny.

The only issue is that our problems are unique and require individually tailored treatment plans. We may all be on different diets, on different supplements, and in a different order. I hung in there, stuck with the plan through the difficult times, and it all paid off. Too bad it took so long, but better late than not at all! Life is good again.

In the words of Billy Crystal, You Look MARVELOUS!!! I certainly remember you from WAAAAY back and know all the changes you made in your life. I really miss those WONDERFUL stories you used to tell us. I am so happy you are achieving recovery from this misery.

I believe the Methylation treatment developed by RichVanK will be my ticket to freedom too. I will be seeing Dr. Bock here in Albany, New York in a couple weeks. He should be able to treat using the methylation supplements and for Lyme disease, if iI do in fact, have Lyme.

So glad to hear of another positive outcome from the methylation treatment. The numbers are growing and I hope to be one of them soon.

Thanks, elliespad, I feel so good all the time now it's like being high - the continued releif I strove for finally happened and stuck. I've still got lots of stories, just don't have the time to lay them all out in the computer! For an unemployed person, I'm really incredibly busy! I've lost a few years that I have to make up for.

thanks, bigmama, yeah I'm still in a hot place and loving it. Bang your fist on the table one day and get that willpower going, you'll need it. The best rules are absolutely no wheat and dairy (and no gluten free or soy substitutes), that will narrow down your choices considerably and force you to eat healthy. Before I started using my willpower (which I really don't need now since healthy eating is now a lifestyle and a habit) I was constantly tormented by food. The no wheat and dairy thing should be considered the eleventh commandment and as long as you don't cheat, it will do some great things. Years ago, I was tormented and tempted by foods on a daily basis and it was no fun fighting with myself over it. good luck

quamijay, I think the reason this whey seems to be okay is because of the way it's processed. This is what is says on their website: Produced using a micro-chilled process, the protein is un-denatured and retains significant amounts of important immune factors including Immunoglobulin (IgG) and Lactoferin.

Casein is the dairy protein that is really hard for the body to break down and it's even worse after heating - it's heat that alters dairy proteins (and other proteins and oils, too, BTW) and makes them even harder to deal with. Pasteurization has a significantly negative impact on the health value of a food. I was actually worried about the whey when Farr first put me on it. I asked him about the dairy issue and he said don't worry about it with this stuff. He was right, I healed up just fine!

I have tried a couple of other wheys from GNC when I ran out or was out of town and they were supposedly cold processed, too, but I still sneezed the next day and that means the dairy thing was happening with those. That means that the casein didn't get digested properly and brought on an immune system reaction because the body couldn't recognize the casein protein as a food, but rather it reacted to it like it was a foreign invader. Biotics Research is like the Cadillac of supplements and they really make great stuff like this whey protein isolate. Too bad it's also like buying a Cadillac but they do their own tests and the stuff is pharmaceutical grade - that means they are meticulous about what's in their products.

That is GREAT news re: the un-denatured whey. It has been really helping me and didn't want to cut it out. I too am starting to reach a full recovery and it feels great. Enjoy your good health and live life to the fullest!!!

Btw you are SO right about the gut issues, I hope people who read this will take note!

We started on the Lyme and EBV and the other stealth viruses but had to stop. That program was too harsh for the body - for now, we're going to start on the liver methylation cycle next Tuesday, I need to read up on that, I'm not sure exactly what it is only that ours are messed up.

i was wondering if you could give me more info on DR. Farrs treatment for cfs? does he have a website? i am at the end of my rope, and want to try something that may help me.i take so many supps a day and so far nothing much has helped.
i have been reading on here about different things, and just trying to get all the info i can on treatments before i go and spend more money.
your picture sure says it all,you can tell you feel good. I'd give my left arm to feel good again...sigh
thanks, Kat

catseye so glad for ya! thx for update.
say, lookin at yr profile you mention antiviral therapy made u worse---could u please say more about that? for or against antiviral/abx in all cases of cfs, yes no,why/why not?

I'll bump my Farr thread for you, it's called "toxic guts, toxic body, why do a comprehensive stool analysis". I go through much of the process in there. Farr's website is becomehealthynow. You can fill out a short quiz and get a free phone consultation to talk with him and tell him your problems. Like you, I was taking lots of supps every day but I only got so far. I realized leaky gut was holding me back and needed to find a qualified health expert to help me with it. I chose him and it was the best educated guess I've ever made. It did take a lot of effort on my part, too. I really studied and understood what was happening in my body. Your own knowledge of your body based on what you've read and your own self observation will hasten your progress.

He really has a tough job, I can see why there aren't too many people who do what he does. I'm still debating whether to go back to school for five years to be able to do it myself. The whole thing with Farr is that we did specific tests and he bases the recommendations on the results. That turned out to be much better than guessing on everything. The first tests we did were the comprehensive stool analysis and complete bloodwork. It took me a year of diet and supplements to get over the dysbiosis. Looking back, I should restricted my diet even further - I think that would have sped it up a bit. good luck

Hi simon,

I did the antiviral chemo for hep c a long time ago and it made me worse. It got rid of the virus, but my CFS increased and it really ruined me and cost a great deal of money since I had no insurance. I wish I had never done it. What I think about antiviral stuff is this:

Many of the neuropeptides and other components of the immune system are made in the gut - the gut is the heart of the immune system. That's what needs to be fixed to combat whatever opportunistic bugs you have floating around. If you do some sort of chemo or antiviral to kill it off without fixing the immune system, it will come right back. So Farr and I treated my immune system to kill of stuff - like the lyme I have - and the lyme count went way down. The immune system will be able to take care of anything if it's working properly. But if you just go after one particular virus or bug without worrying about the state of your gut, it will come back or another opportunistic bug will take its place - the treatment will never end. The immune system can be fixed if you know what to do. Medical doctors don't have a clue, they don't teach it in med school. Antibiotics will make dysbiosis worse since they kill off beneficial bacteria and they are hard on the liver. If you really want to do antibiotics, I would try something natural like chew raw garlic cloves or even oil of oregano and take lots of probiotics while you're at it. You still need to get a CDSA (comprehensive digestive stool analysis) done to see if you have dysbiosis and to what degree, though.

This is strictly from my own point of view. There may be certain cases where it's warranted to go after one particular bug at a time, but I still think that should happen only after the immune system has been repaired as much as possible. I actually forgot all about the lyme until this question. It's just not an issue for me anymore. Things like the chemo have some seriously nasty side effects and will do more damage as they kill the one thing they're going after. It was definitely not in my best interest to do the chemo before fixing the immune system. But I was very health ignorant back then and thought medical doctors knew all about health. My erroneous belief about doctors cost me lots of money (tens of Ks of $), agony and effort.

Farr told me once that by the time people end up getting help from him, they are at the end of their rope. So he gets the worst cases, like me, and can still fix them. The medical profession isn't the only health help out there. It's just that most people think it is. The medical profession is great for crisis management (heart attack, broken leg, other serious immediately life-threatening conditions) but in the cases of chronic diseases like this one, they are a bunch of quacks and will not only NOT give you what you really need, they will worsen your condition. We have bad gut/immune systems, bad liver function and a mess of other organ and metabolic problems and they want to help manage our symptoms with drugs instead of fixing the root problems! They practically kill us and they don't get in trouble for this! Doctors can be useful if you know what to use them for. I just went to the doctor and got a scrip for an expectorant to help me throw off this nasty cough from this cold I got last week. Of course, he wanted me to take some antibiotics, too, but I refused. Antibiotics are one of the things that started off my whole problem in the first place! Ugh!

The chemo I did I probably could have managed better with supplements to help the intestines and digestive system if I had known about those things. My biggest problem was dysbiosis which lead to intestinal hyperpermeability and the methylation block in the liver. By then, I was bedridden and praying that I would die to stop the agony. That was a whole 'nuther life ago! Now I can look back on the memory without cringing - in the end, I won!

The more homework you do and understand about your condition, the faster you and a health expert can formulate a plan and make necessary adjustments along the way. The biggest problem with this for many is the lack of insurance - even if you have it they most likely will not pay for a health expert other than a medical doctor and also not pay for the supplements you need. So many end up going to medical doctors who use their insurance and they don't get treated properly.

Thanks for continuing to keep us informed of what you've been doing to get well. I honestly believe everything you are saying is true, according to my experience.

Did Farr do lyme testing? What lab? How did he test and what test shows it's not a problem anymore for you? Please let me know.

Also, are your menstrual cycles getting better as you heal? I think I recall you saying you had trouble in this area. I think my cycles are messed up and almost unbearable due to my gut dysbiosis and related immune problems. Please let me know.

I am so impressed by your fortitude. Thank for you being an inspiration.

Love the pic .. you look so healthy, even more so than the last time I saw you.

Congrats on your willpower ... Actually, like you and others have said though, once you get used to the diet it becomes second nature. Fresh foods taste great and gluten treats begin to taste like the flavored flour it is. BLEH !!

kat0465 - all you have to do is read it over and over until you get it! I know, easier said than done, but that's what I did.

zipk
For the lyme test, we did the Central Florida Research's antibody by flow cytometry test. The first one showed a count of 21 (positive) and the next one a few months later showed a count of 2 (negative). I believe it had to be greater than 18 per 50,000 events to be considered positive.

My cycles aren't doing better other than instead of the usual 23 -24 days, now sometimes they are more like 28-29 days. The pain is still incredibly bad but I'm doing a full cycle saliva test right now to help sort it out. I think maybe the liver isn't breaking down estrogen fully and it can build up and make cramping even worse. I don't know that it's happening for sure, but I've read that cramps can be made worse because of it. I'm sure it's all hormones. I remember a long time ago I was trying progesterone and estrogen creams and they seemed to make the cramping a bit easier to take. But Farr doesn't like to have me take anything without proper testing first so we'll see next month what to do about this.

The methylation treatment was Farr's recommendations based on my tests, including the detoxigenomic profile showing problems in enzyme functions in the liver. The only things we added for that was manganese, more magnesium, NAC and vegetable culture that I think is loaded with methyl donors. Then something major slammed back into place within a matter of days - something that had been messed up for years. It was just mind-blowing.

I pretty much eat the same things every day. Usually it's eggs for breakfast, a small bit of chicken with every meal, a bowl of soup with every meal (either broccoli/chicken or pumpkin) and my Nutriclear and Whey protein shake with breakfast and lunch. The broccoli/chicken soup is my favorite now. You just boil broccoli, bell peppers (all colors), onion, garlic and a couple of chicken breasts in some chicken broth and then run it through the blender after it has cooked and cooled off. It's like cream of chicken soup but it's green. It's the best tasting way I've found to eat broccoli without putting butter all over it. It's delicious soup and I hate the taste of broccoli. The pumpkin soup is just pumpkin, peppers, onion and garlic in chicken broth - then put in the blender.

I eat mostly chicken, but also some fish cooked with bell peppers, onions, garlic and coconut milk, some filet mignon and ground turkey sphagetti on gluten free pasta. The pasta is a very rare treat.

I eat rotisserie chicken I buy on the street at the best chicken place in town. The eggs are fresh and still have poop stuck to them. For snacks, I eat fruit and nut bars from the gluten free and organic websites. Also, raw nuts, raw chocolate (not much, very sparingly), and some veggie or rice crackers. Hummus is good with the crackers and I have a dehydrator and can make my own veggie and nut crackers.
The rawguru has these great spiced nuts and all kinds of bars and crackers. Look for raw food websites and see what the ingredients are in the crackers and things they are selling. My favorite crackers are made from things like almonds, sunflower seeds, veggies and spices. They are great with the soup. My diet is actually pretty boring, eating the same things day in and day out, but they taste so good I don't mind. I'm starting to eat at restaurants a lot more but I'm very picky and choosy about what I eat. I'm still avoiding all gluten and dairy so that narrows it down quite a bit.

I take the fruit and nut bars with me everywhere I go. They are great for when I get busy and miss a meal. I can go several hours without food now, not like before when I was so hypoglycemic I had to eat every couple of hours, even at night.

I was using the dehydrator to make veggies with a nut batter. I used soaked and sprouted almonds along with onion and garlic and curry. Put all of that in a blender with some water and make a batter. Then slice up zucchini, bell peppers and red onions. Mix the slices in the batter and put in the dehydrator. They come out crunchy and delicious. But I think they aren't a good idea for leaky gut, at least the bell peppers. Technically, they are a fruit and probably didn't digest well with the nut batter. Raw food websites have incredible recipes. I'm about to try making some cashew cheesecake, finally.

xchocoholic
the two things keeping me on this diet are the fact that it healed me and it is keeping me so thin - 104 lbs at the doc's office on Sunday! Here, the doc is in on Sunday. Now I have to study some BMI stuff and figure out what I really should weigh. Haven't gotten around to that yet.

You continue to be an inspiration. Thank you.
I have a couple of questions regarding gut dysbiosis....
I do not have candida, but bad bacteria....is fruit going to feed them?
is Ribose on the good or bad list?

how long were you on the antibacterial meds from Dr.Farr? Do you still take them?